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Insurer capacity inevitably reduces further and further as the 1 October professional indemnity (PI) insurance deadline draws closer. Those law firms yet to secure cover for next year face a race against the clock (and other law firms) to secure the remaining affordable cover.
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Research conducted by LexisNexis for the Bellwether report series highlighted that small firms are becoming more and more attractive to legal professionals as their chosen employer. The Bellwether report, entitled Is the Future Small?, surveyed solicitors currently working at small law firms, where the majority – two out of three of those surveyed – had previously worked in medium to top-tier firms.
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When Ellis-Fermor & Negus needed to overhaul its outdated
analogue system, Advanced delivered time and cost savings
while enabling the firm to increase efficiency.
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We all know that AI (artificial intelligence) and machine learning are among the buzzwords that frequently come up in meetings or discussions around innovation and problem solving. It’s also heavily mooted as a key part of proposed requirements by some supply partners. So, what is AI and how should it be approached to deliver organisational benefits? There are numerous definitions out there, so I’ve tried to take the best of what’s on the web and consolidate it.
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Legal Project Management (or LPM) is becoming essential for law firms. And for good reasons.
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The next-generation version is announced. It’s always infinitely better and cooler, with a whole host of new features and revolutionary technologies I would just love to have. But no – I’m gonna be stuck with this embarrassing, already old-fashioned piece of kit for the next two years until my contract renews again.
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We’ve recently completed an integration with SimplyAgree, a tool that streamlines the legal signature and closing management process. Closing technology can now be seamlessly integrated into existing attorney workflows to maximize firms’ closing efficiency. While parts of the integration follow a familiar pattern, other parts are unique, so I thought I’d go through how the integration was put together.
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By nature, legal firms can be high-pressure environments. Employees are under the constant beck and call of clients and the workday can easily become stressful. So, as a legal partner, how do you lead your team in a way that inspires them to remain positive and productive? How do you get them to join you on the journey of creating a remarkable law firm that is held in high regard by both clients and the employees themselves?
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Whether it’s transcription and typing or marketing and managed IT services, outsourcing support offers most law firms productivity and profitability gains over in-house alternatives.
Whilst some firms will engage specialist consultants to help them select a managed IT service provider (MSP), the choice can be made simpler if the provider not only addresses the firm’s current IT concerns, but understands the likely trends and challenges, whilst proving to be a good, responsible partner at the same time.
Here are a few trends and questions that will affect the future of your potential MSP partner and they should be discussing these technology topics when you meet to make your selection.
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Risk and compliance in law firms is a booming career path and attracts many LLB and LPC graduates who may traditionally be looking at training contracts or paralegal roles. Here are a few reasons why:
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The Risk and Compliance function in a law firm has a wide range of responsibilities. Primarily it exists in order to mitigate and protect against risks and maintain compliance with relevant regulations and legislation - but what does that mean in practice? Different law firms organise their risk and compliance functions in different ways - in this article we talk about 4 of the main types of risk and compliance issues with which firms are concerned.
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Nearly every role that we work on is briefed on an urgent basis and we understand the pressure vacancies can put on teams, especially in Business Acceptance functions. However we never think this should trump the aim to hire the best person for the job. The risks have to be carefully weighed up. In the long-term hiring the wrong person for the role is likely to do more damage than the short term impact of leaving a role vacant for longer. Remember, the Hare might have got out of the blocks more quickly, but it was the Tortoise that won the race.
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Whilst for some the idea of swapping rainy England for the sunny beaches of Australia or the lively streets of Hong Kong may be a no-brainer, we consistently hear from law firms that they struggle to get interest from their own risk and compliance professionals for these sorts of opportunities - here are a few reasons why opportunities overseas might be worth serious consideration:
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96% of organisations are using cloud-based computing of some form*. How many applications are you using today within your firm that are cloud based? Probably quite a few. Yet why do so many organisations still opt for on premises platforms to store their corporate data? The reluctance to move to the cloud varies from firm to firm, but security is always high on the list. With file sharing platforms and client portals, one of the main reasons to stay on premises is the result of your clients not wanting their data in the cloud. Many firms feel their own, internal infrastructure will be more secure than the cloud. They are in control. However, many articles suggest the cloud is far more secure…
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For any business operating today, change is inevitable. The legal sector is no exception and firms must embrace change to maintain growth, success and their competitive edge. While it is natural to be hesitant about change, law firms are seen as significantly more risk-averse than other business types, with many practitioners traditionally perceiving it as a risk rather than an opportunity. This is echoed by the top 10 law firms, who identified new technology as the biggest challenge that the legal sector will face over the next two years.
